Category Archives: Politics

Does “daylight savings time” save energy? Does it save money? Does it save lives? Does getting up when the sun is lower in the morning sky mean you have more time before you go to bed at night?

“One hundred years ago when they first proposed this, they said it was about saving energy,” said Michael Downing, author of “Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time. This has never been realized no matter how many times they say it.”

A University of California study has shown that DST doesn’t save anyone any money at all. In fact, it’s costing consumers extra, to the tune of $3.19 in extra utility bills per year. The study was made possible because of the peculiarities of the state of Indiana, which was only partially on DST until 2006. When the whole state finally went DST (to sync with the national business day), some comparisons vs. the prior method were made apparent. The study calculated that the shift costs Indiana residents an extra $8.6 million in electricity bills in total.

The residents of Anna Maria Island joined the rest of the country in feeling huge relief that the elections held on November 6 had finally come to pass. For weeks, as they were bombarded by coverage of the national elections, they also witnessed aggressive campaigns on the local level.

Holmes Beach

In Holmes Beach, the issue of large rental duplexes and their multiple impacts on neighboring residents spurred three challengers to run for the position of mayor and the two available seats on the city commission. City meetings leading up to the election sometimes erupted into angry confrontations involving members of the sitting commission, challengers, and various members of the public who were concerned about how to handle the proliferation of large duplexes without infringing on property rights.

The argument for supporting the challengers was that the incumbents had taken far too long to discourage the building of large rental duplexes, which many feel are ruining the character of the island. The argument in favor of the incumbents was that they were working skillfully within a lot of very demanding state-level requirements, and were in the process of achieving a lot, if only they could be allowed to continue. The implication was that the new people may have had good intentions, but their lack of experience and lack of connections would ultimately delay good solutions for these issues. There were additional concerns, by some, that the challengers might not respect the rights of developers and property owners as they try to limit further large rental properties from having such a great impact on others.

In another episode of the continuing non-reality show of “Let’s see what FEMA rules are today”, letters from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the local island cities offices announced that buildings “having the lowest floor one foot or more below the base flood elevation will no longer be eligible for the CRS discount.”

The Community Rating System is a method of assessing cities’ overall exposure to flood damage loss. By installing adequate drainage systems and enforcing building codes to mitigate flood damage, communities can be eligible for a 5 – 45% discount for residents’ flood insurance premiums.

FEMA’s new edict beginning May 1st excludes specific properties “at high risk” and “not compliant” in the “Special Flood Hazard Area” from getting the community discount. A homeowner will discover if he is excluded when their flood insurance policy comes up for renewal – the policy will have a small zero in the CRS discount box.